IN the wake of a home invasion that went wrong on Thursday last week, Janus Horn, chairman of Mayville SPS CPF Sector 1B in Manor Gardens, has appealed once again to the Municipality to repair street lights in Mary Thiphe Road.
Speaking about the incident, Horn said nothing was reported on any channels until 2.14am.
He said when they arrived on scene they were told that two suspects had entered the premises, one armed with a gun and another with a knife.
“As they got inside they met 10 people sitting in the lounge area, and a struggle seems to have taken place. Two Malaysians who had been renting the house for the past month were injured in the scuffle, one was shot and the other stabbed. They were both admitted to King Edward Hospital,” he said, adding that they were due to return to Malaysia on 5 January.
According to Horn, one man, believed to be one of the suspects was stabbed multiple times and died on scene. Three cellphones were found in his pockets, all presumed to be from the residents or guests.
“I was on scene until around 4am, and despite the confusion and panic, SAPS did a fantastic job,” he said.
Horn said having functioning street lights in the area would help deter criminal activity and residents would be able to see people walking around at night.
“This and other houses in the road are completely in the dark at night as street lights don’t work. Metro Police are stationed 200m down the road, but they would not see anything if a person was wearing dark clothing. I am sure that this incident could have been prevented if we had working street lights. I have written to the municipality and reported street lights that are out on Mary Thiphe for nearly two years now,” he said.
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He said he had been told that the street lights could not be repaired because of the illegal connections in the area, however he feels there must be alternatives.
“Why not move the lights to the other side of the road or remove the illegal connections? The best would be to give the residents in the informal settlement free or prepaid electricity, something I have asked for over 10 years now. This kind of incident is extremely bad for the image of our city as well as for tourism,” he said.
Responding to queries by Berea Mail, PR Councillor Thabani Mthethwa said he would engage the head of electricity to look at resolving this issue.
“I’m indeed familiar with the dynamics in Manor Gardens and Cato Crest and the issues of illegal connections. Let me talk to the head and take it from there,” he said.
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said: “Continuous theft of cables and infrastructure has crippled the restoration of street lights in this area. However, the City is looking into new innovative technologies to curb this social problem.”
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